Spock Must Die

Blurb

Spock Must Die! is a novel based on the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Original Series. It was published in 1970 by Bantam Books, and was the first original novel for adults based on the series. The only previous works had been comic books, short-story adaptations of the television episodes and the children's book Mission to Horatius. The novel details the creation of a tachyon copy of Spock to investigate the destruction of the Organians; without the intervention of the Organians, war erupts between the Klingons and the Federation. Confusion about the two Spocks allows the new Spock to defect to the Klingons. With the war going badly for Starfleet, the Enterprise travels to Organia to investigate.
The novel was written by James Blish, who had written the adaptations of the television episodes. Blish wanted to kill off the popular Spock character to surprise readers. It was the only original novel for adults based on the franchise until 1976's Spock, Messiah!, and was reprinted numerous times with different covers. It was included in 1978's The Star Trek Reader IV.